Page 74 of The P*ssy Next Door
Hayes snort-laughed and shook his head at me. “Nope. Doesn't do it for me like it does for you.”
“Boo. Fine.” I stuck out my tongue at him. “You said two things are making us profitable. What's the other one. It's catpuccinos, isn't it?”
“You're not entirely wrong.” He pointed to one of his charts. “The days you host the cat shelter events are by far the biggest income days. Like, by a lot.”
I leaned over his shoulder, studying the figures. Then I blinked at them, because I had no idea what I was even looking for. But just thinking about how busy we were on those days, he had to be right. Even with the occasional feline-induced chaos, we were packed and often ran out of our specialties for that day before closing. Plus, who didn't like cats? Besides my mother.
Hayes grinned, nudging me with his elbow. “Maybe you should just turn this place into a cat café. Embrace your true calling as a crazy, sexy cat lady.”
I laughed, but his words triggered a memory. Back when the Guncles were getting ready to leave on their trip, we'd joked about how funny it would be if they came home to find I'd transformed their beloved coffee shop into a cat café.
An idea began to take shape in my mind, equal parts exciting and ridiculous. I grabbed my phone, typing out a series of messages while Hayes was distracted with the spreadsheets.
A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with a string of responses. I bit back a grin, excitement bubbling up inside me.
“Hey, sugar pie honey bunch?” I said, trying to keep my voice casual. “How do you feel about a little impromptu trip?”
He glanced up, his eyebrows raised. “A trip? But what about the coffee shop, and I'm still on concussion protocol, and we've got the playoffs coming up...”
I held up my phone, showing him the messages. “Already taken care of. I asked my dad and Javi to cover for a couple of days at the shop. Jules is going to watch Seven. I cleared traveling with your doctor, Chris cleared it with your coaches, you don't have a game because the Mustangs are top seeded, so no wild card, and your brothers are letting us use the private jet. We leave in two hours.”
Hayes stared at me, his mouth falling open. “What? How did you...? You have the team doctor's number? And everyone in my family?”
I grinned, feeling a rush of the old exhilaration I used to get when planning my own next adventures. “I've got my ways. Now, go pack a bag. We're going to Japan to check out cat cafés.”
“Japan?” He said it with a look on his face like he'd thought he was getting a bite of chocolate, but it was lemon-lime. “There's not, like, a Japan in Texas is there? I feel like there might be.”
I gave him a side-eye but Googled it just for funsies. “Nope. I see a place called China, New York, and there's are towns named Norway, Lebanon, Peru, Mexico, Sweden, and Poland in Maine. Oh, actually there are eight states with a city called Lebanon, and ten with a city named after Peru. Indiana has both, and also an Angola, Brazil, and Morocco. Ooh, Georgia has a Budapest.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, so you're saying we are leaving the United States. How do you know I even have a passport? I've never left the country before.”
I stared at him like he'd just admitted he was from Middle Earth or Asgard. “Never? Not even to like... Mexico or Canada?”
“Not a lot of football games in Mexico.” He shrugged. “Or, well, not American football.”
“Oh, my sweet summer Hayes. I'm about to rock your world.”
He did in fact have a passport, and it was so fresh and crisp, with no stamps or visas or pages that were even flipped through. Mine was battered enough for the both of us. The flight was gonna be hella long, but goodness gracious, I wasn't going to miss ever having to fly coach again after this luxury. I didn't even have to worry about the disappointed or upset looks from strangers when they saw they were seated next to a chubby girl in the middle seat.
If my machinations went according to plan, we weren't even going to be seated for most of the flight anyway. I happened to notice the last time we were on their jet that it had a small bedroom in the back. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.
We definitely hadn't been having as much sex since his concussion. Not because he didn't want to. He did. All the time. I was the one who insisted we not take any chances with his health. But I figured if the doctor okayed him for international flight, that had to include joining the mile high club.
“I can't believe we're doing this,” Hayes murmured as we boarded with only our overnight bags in hand.
I traced my fingers along his jaw, loving the way he leaned into my touch, already anticipating dragging him into the bedroom once we reached our cruising altitude. “No plans, no expectations. Just you and me, exploring something new together. Like, for example, the mile high club?”
“I like the sound of that.”He kissed me, deep and hungry, and I melted into him, as far as I could sitting in our seats buckled in for takeoff. But the moment the pilot’s voice came over the intercom to say we could move about the cabin, we practically sprinted to the bedroom.
I made one quick stop for my bag along the way. Had to make sure Hayes was properly strapped in should there be any turbulence. And I was planning plenty of turbulence.
Hayes shut the bedroom door, and in an instant his hands slid under my shirt, his touch leaving trails of heat in their wake. I arched into him, needing to be closer, needing to feel his skin against mine. We undressed each other slowly, reverently, taking the time to explore each newly revealed inch of flesh.
When we were finally bare, his eyes darkened, his grip on my hips tightening, his eyes roaming over my body like he wanted to eat me up in the way that always made my heart go pitter with an extra pat. Nobody looked at me, or ever had, the way he did.
“Lay down on the bed,” I whispered. “I brought a surprise.”
His eyes crinkled with interest, and he crawled onto the bed, laying back against the pillows. He was so tall, his feet almost hung over the end. I unzipped my bag and pulled out three of his silk ties.